AGRICULTURE: Potato Spree

A sudden rush to buy potatoes turned
Chicago's Mercantile Exchange last week into a madhouse. Sweating and
shouting, scores of traders jammed the potato arena, in a single day
bought a record 479 carloads (normal day: under 10), whanged prices
from $3.10 to $3.75 per 100 pounds.

After an hour's trading, the panting ticker printed only the latest
price, was hopelessly behind on volume. The Exchange's 15 bookkeepers
worked until 3 a.m. to settle the day's businessbiggest in the
21-year history of the Exchange.